| 𝕎𝕖'𝕣𝕖 𝕒𝕝𝕨𝕒𝕪𝕤 𝕒𝕕𝕧𝕚𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕖𝕩𝕡𝕖𝕔𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕦𝕟𝕖𝕩𝕡𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕖𝕕. 𝕄𝕒𝕪𝕓𝕖 𝕨𝕖 𝕤𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕝𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕟. |
It was way too late into the night when your boss finally let you leave the office. You'd been working some unpaid overtime when he found you in your little cubicle, jamming out to Eyedress and completely lost in reviewing patient forms from earlier in the day. He informed you that it was 8:00 p.m. and completely dark outside. He'd wanted you to stay overnight or at the very least let him drive you home for safety's sake, but you assured him that the Hero Killer wouldn't be after someone like you and walked out.
Truth be told, you didn't understand what all the fuss was about. The killer, at least to the public's knowledge, had never killed a civilian. He was dubbed the Hero Killer for a reason, he only killed heroes. Despite all of that though, everyone was convinced that he'd be right around the corner waiting to strike at them like they were something special.
The reason you didn't want to get a ride to your house was to set an example. You wanted to show your boss that he had nothing to worry about even if he might not perceive it the way you want him to.
Now you were strolling through an alley as a shortcut since it was cold as shit outside. You shivered even under your sweater, something that was way out of character for you. That's when you spotted him.
A shadowy figure had made their way into the alley you were currently walking down, causing you to freeze completely. He looked like he was armed too, and that really wasn't a good sign.
An even worse sign was when he unsheathed his weapon.
You sprang back into gear, instantly running in the opposite direction of the figure as your brain screamed survival tips at you from your late night YouTube binges.
You heard his heavy footsteps clambering behind you, the clanking of what must have been kneepads not too quiet in comparison. The pavement was probably cracking under his weight, an understandable assumption since he appeared to be over 7 feet tall.
Then, you tripped. A gasp-whimper that could only escape the lips of an anime protagonist escaped yours as you fell against the soggy asphalt, his footsteps continuing as though you hadn't. It was like being chased by Michael Myers with how slow he was and how helplessness fell in your atmosphere.
You scrambled up onto you knees, but as soon as you looked up to where you'd be standing, you stopped moving altogether. Coated in a thick red neon light was the worn blade of a katana, said to be the hero killer's signature weapon.
As this occurred, you caught movement out of the corner of your eye. It was as though a man was running off, too panicked to keep the apparent cover he'd had throughout this whole ordeal. The blade that once hung above your head was, in mere seconds, pressed against the man's throat not too far away.
"Kidnapping someone on their way home from work? How tasteless." The man who'd chased you uttered those words in a pleasant yet raspy voice. This gave you the opportunity to assess the situation.
From the way he spoke you couldn't help but wonder if he'd known the man had been there all along. It might have just been wishful thinking, but wouldn't anyone hope that the person who just seemed about to kill you was just putting on a show in order to lure out someone who truly had bad intentions?
The blade, pushed deeper into the man's flesh, drew blood. All this defenseless guy could do was let his tears fall, huh?
"You're not... really going to kill him, are you?" You suddenly had found your voice on autopilot. The taller man whom you prayed would end up your savior turned to look at you. The look on his face was different from what you'd expected, completely flat.
"Some people aren't worth wasting a blade on." The man who had clearly just used his blade stated as he dropped it near his side. The other man, frightened beyond belief, took this chance to scamper off.
Now you were left alone with him. Alone with... him. "You're.. the hero killer, aren't you?"
He stayed silent. As you opener your mouth to apologize, however, he brought himself to speak. "That is what they call me."
So he was the Hero Killer: Stain. You couldn't help but flinch a little as the pieces fit themselves together in your mind, but he didn't seem to care. You had decided it was a lack of care since his perceptiveness seemed to be more than on point. "But didn't you just... save me from that guy?"
"I'm not the villain they claim me to be." He gazed down at you, eyes piercing yours like spears, "I do what I do for the good of the people... because they don't deserve to be 'protected' by fakes who will run away when they're needed most."
"That doesn't make any sense-" despite it being rather obvious that you had no power in this situation, you challenged his statement, "-you attacked Ingenium! Ingenium was a great, strong hero.."
He sheathed his blade, returning it to his side. "I may just be the only person that sees how doomed society is." As to signal the conversation as over, he began walking away. You really didn't understand any of what had just happened, but you resisted to urge to call out to him. You should probably leave before you really get yourself into trouble, right?
